An observation at the end of Lamentations and a certain expectation at the end of 1 Peter — that’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Throughout Lamentations, I’ve been taking note of the prayers prayed by Jeremiah. Amidst the waste and the weeping, as the prophet takes stock of the destruction of Jerusalem and its people, you’ll find him periodically calling out to God. I first noticed it back in chapter one where four times the prophet interrupts his lament to beseech God to “behold”, to “look”, to “look and see” (1:9, 11, 12, 20). Not that Jeremiah was thinking that the all-knowing God of heaven might not know how bad things really were on the ground, but that he just needed some reassurance that God was also all-present. That God was engaged. That God had not left the building.

And these 911 prayers continue. “Look and see” in chapter two (2:20), “Do not close Your ear to my cry for help” in chapter three (3:56), and then, this morning’s petitions in chapter five.

Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! . . . Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old . . .

(Lamentations 5:1, 21 ESV)

Remember . . . Restore . . . Renew . . .

Don’t forget . . . Don’t forsake . . . Don’t finish off.

Call to mind . . . Call us back . . . Call us new.

And that Jeremiah would pray such prayers, given the severity of the situation, makes a ton of sense.

Yet, Jeremiah also knows that what had befallen Jerusalem, Jerusalem deserved. Jeremiah knows that what has been suffered has been suffered under the hand of the God he is appealing to and that it is just judgment for generations of rebellion. He knows that the LORD has given “full vent to His wrath” and has “poured out His hot anger” (4:11) for the sin of Jerusalem’s prophets and the iniquities of her priests (4:13). He knows that their “inheritance has been turned over to strangers” and they “have become orphans” (5:3) because “our fathers sinned . . . and we bear their iniquities” (5:7). He knows that the fact that Jerusalem is just a desert is because her people have received their just desserts.

So, knowing that they are but receiving the recompense for their persistent, habitual, hardened sin, how can Jeremiah also pray, “Remember . . . Restore . . . Renew”?

Cue 1 Peter. Time to connect some dots.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. . . . this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

(1Peter 5:10, 12b ESV)

Though Peter & The Exiles (hmm . . . that would make a good band name) suffered at a different time, under different circumstances, and for different reasons, they too needed to know that God would “look and see.” They needed the assurance that He would remember, restore, and renew.

And what would be the basis for such assurance? What would be their confidence that God would hear their plea and respond to their petition? Their call to glory and His grace abounding. His promises to them in Christ and their receipt of unconditional, unmerited favor through Christ.

This is the true grace of God . . .

Stand firm in it . . .